'I Had One Offer': Michigan's Ronnie Bell Reflects On Wild Recruitment

Michigan wide receiver Ronnie Bell was set to spend his college days playing basketball at Missouri State - until Jim Harbaugh called.

When it comes to recruiting in today's college football, it isn't all that unusual for top prospects to hold dozens of Power Five offers from across the country.  What is unusual, however, is receiving just one offer to play football - and having that single offer come from a Power Five program like the University of Michigan.

That's exactly how it happened for Michigan wide receiver, Ronnie Bell.

Appearing on the podcast 'Prepare To Be Amaized', hosted by Michigan quarterbacks Alan Bowman and Dan Villari, Bell reflected on his unusual path to Michigan.

"I didn't necessarily choose (Michigan)", said Bell. "I had one offer to play football, so it was more so me choosing football than it was choosing Michigan. But I'm definitely grateful and blessed to be here." 

Though Bell was a solid football player throughout high school, he gained most of the attention on the basketball court. Without a single offer to play college football on the table, Bell opted to sign his NLI to play college basketball for Missouri State. 

At this point, you might be asking yourself, "how does that even happen"? How does an under-the-radar athlete like Ronnie Bell gain the attention of Jim Harbaugh and a major Power Five program like Michigan?

"The story he (Harbaugh) told me was that his brother-in-law coached basketball at Blue Springs South, which is a school in the same conference as me back home," said Bell. "He talked highly of me because my senior year I went crazy. The year before I jumped over a kid from Blue Springs South and dunked over him."

Harbaugh's brother-in-law, Jimmy Cain, spent 15 seasons as the head basketball coach at Blue Springs South (Mo.) and got to see Bell's athleticism up close and personal throughout his high school career.

"I was talking to (Cain) about 2019 football players, and 2018 guys," Harbaugh said on the Attack Each Day podcast. "I said, 'Who are the best players in the Kansas City area?' He mentions Ronnie Bell and I said, 'I don't know about Ronnie Bell. Tell me about him.'"

After a review of Bell's high school film, Harbaugh couldn't believe that there were no other football programs showing interest in the prospect out of Kansas City (Mo.). As it turns out, Harbaugh had found a diamond in the rough - and Bell would soon be on his way to Ann Arbor. 

The rest is history.